Person Details

Birthday:

Aliases: Ralph Rathgeber

Gender: Male

Place of birth: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 46

TV Involvements: 27


Most Famous Work

Biography

Ralph Meeker (born Ralph Rathgeber; November 21, 1920 – August 5, 1988) was an American actor. He first rose to prominence for his roles in the Broadway productions of Mister Roberts (1948–1951) and Picnic (1953), the former of which earned him a Theatre World Award for his performance. In film, Meeker is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Mike Hammer in Robert Aldrich's 1955 Kiss Me Deadly. Meeker went on to play a series of roles that used his husky and macho screen presence, including a lead role in Stanley Kubrick's military courtroom drama Paths of Glory (1957), as a troubled mechanic opposite Carroll Baker in Something Wild (1961), as a World War II captain in The Dirty Dozen (1967), and in the gangster film The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967). Other credits include supporting roles in I Walk the Line (1970) and Sidney Lumet's The Anderson Tapes (1971). He also had a prolific career in television, appearing as Sergeant Steve Dekker on the series Not for Hire (1959–1960), and in the television horror film The Night Stalker (1972). After suffering a stroke in 1980, Meeker was forced to retire from acting, and died eight years later of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ralph Meeker, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Most Famous Work

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Average
6

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre

(1956) Steve Elkins
Climax!
Average
3

Climax!

(1954) 'Griff' Griffith
Studio One
Average
4

Studio One

(1948) Larry Sheridan
The Outer Limits
Average
8

The Outer Limits

(1963) John Dexter
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Average
7

Wanted: Dead or Alive

(1958) Martin Ash
Lux Video Theatre
Average
6

Lux Video Theatre

(1950) Mike
Kraft Suspense Theatre
Average
5

Kraft Suspense Theatre

(1963) Harly Clay
The F.B.I.
Average
5

The F.B.I.

(1965) Graham Newcomb

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
2004 Mike Hammer in Kiss Me Deadly (archive footage)
2002 Lt. Driscoll (archive footage)
1980 Dave
1979 Gameboy Baker
1978 N/A
N/A
Charlie
Mike
Bert Morton
1977 N/A
1976 Bensington
1975 Big Lou Hobart
Colby
Capt. Moretti
Lieutenant Reardon
1974 N/A
N/A
N/A
Inspector DeBiesse
Dutch Armbreck
Chuck Braswell
1973 Ben Hoeksema
N/A
N/A
N/A
Will Alden
Jim McAndrew
1972 N/A
The Major
Bernie Jenks
1971 Capt. Luke Danvers
N/A
N/A
Police Captain 'Iron Balls' Delaney
1970 Carl McCain
Glenn Walkup
1969 N/A
Burl
1968 Senator Goddard
Curran
1967 Fog Hanson
Tracy Conlin
N/A
George Clarence 'Bugs' Moran
Captain Stuart Kinder
N/A
1966 Earl Evans
N/A
1965 King Hogan
Scott Martin
Graham Newcomb
1963 Harly Clay
John Dexter
Matt Rubio
1962 N/A
1961 Mike
Floyd Cooper
Colonel Yancey
N/A
1960 N/A
1959 N/A
1958 N/A
Martin Ash
1957 Cpl. Philippe Paris
Lieutenant Driscoll
Mike Valla
1956 Trevor Stevenson
Steve Elkins
1955 Capt. David Malcolm
N/A
Carl Spann
Carl Borden
Mel Reeves
John Forbes
Mike Hammer
Geraldo 'Jerry' Barker aka Iceman
1954 Alex Hill
'Griff' Griffith
1953 Joe Martin
Ed James
Pilot Duke Cavanaugh
Willis Cooper
Chuck O'Flair
Lawson the Fugitive
Roy Anderson
1952 Benny Fields
Burt
Socks Barbarrosa
1951 Wally Walters
Rich Adams
Barry Brannon
Sgt. Dobbs
Sergeant William Long
1950 Nicky Hanks
Mike
1948 Steve Windom
Larry Sheridan
Self - Guest Host
Self
Self (archive footage)
Year Character Movie/Tv

Production

Year Role Movie/Tv
1978 Executive Producer
Year Role Movie/Tv

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